Wimbledon Women's Final 2009: Serena Wins Battle of Williams Sisters

WIMBLEDON, England -- Venus and Serena Williams won in contrasting fashion Thursday to set up their fourth all-sister Wimbledon final and eighth meeting in a Grand Slam title match.

Two-time champion Serena saved a match point and overcame Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 in 2 hours, 49 minutes -- the longest women's semifinal at Wimbledon in at least 40 years. Five-time winner Venus, meanwhile, needed only 51 minutes to demolish Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0 and reach her eighth Wimbledon final.

"Oh, my God, this is my eighth final, and it's a dream come to true to be here again and have the opportunity to hold the plate up," Venus said.

The sisters -- with 17 Grand Slam titles between them -- will face each other Saturday in a Fourth of July final.

"A fourth final -- it's so exciting. It was so hard before my match to watch all that drama," Venus said, referring to Serena's semifinal. "It was so difficult. But the hardest part is next to come, to play Serena Williams."

One Williams or the other has won seven of the past nine championships at the All England Club. Serena beat Venus in the 2002 and '03 finals, and Venus came out on top against her younger sister last year.

"All I know is a Williams is going to win," said the sisters' father, Richard.

Venus is bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win Wimbledon three years in a row.

There have been seven previous all-Williams championship matches at majors, with Serena holding a 5-2 lead. Overall, the sisters are 10-10.

"I'm happy for her to be in the final, but I have to face her and defeat her," Venus said. "I don't necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I want me to win. I don't want to see myself disappointed. I need to get my titles, too. I'm still the big sister, but I'm still going to play great tennis."

The Serena-Dementieva match was the longest women's Wimbledon semifinal by time since 1969; records are incomplete before then. Venus' win was the most one-sided women's semifinal since Billie Jean King beat Rosie Casals by the same score in 1969. The last time a semifinal ended 6-0, 6-0 was in 1925.

After Serena's tense, drama-filled escape against Dementieva, Venus barely broke a sweat against Safina. The Russian is ranked and seeded No. 1 despite never having won a Grand Slam tournament. Safina won only 20 points and was completely outclassed by the third-seeded Venus, who has been playing some of her best grass-court tennis at this tournament.

"She's just too good on grass," Safina said. "It's not my favorite surface, and it's her favorite surface. I think she gave me a pretty good lesson today."

"I don't know if there's such a thing as perfect for an athlete, but I felt happy with it," Venus said. "And I felt like my performance has been building each round better and better. ... I think the score just showed my level of play. I was just dictating on every point."

In the 10th game of the final set, Serena faced match point on her serve with Dementieva ahead 5-4. Serena chose to attack, coming forward and hitting a backhand volley that skipped off the net cord and into the open court for a winner.

"I thought ace," Serena said. "It's my serve, if I can just stay calm. I was just trying to think positive."

Dementieva said: "The only regret I have, maybe I should take a little bit more risk on match point, should go down the line."

It was Serena's eighth straight win in a Grand Slam semifinal going back to the 2003 French Open. She is 14-2 overall in Grand Slam semifinals.

It was almost too much to handle for father Richard, who watched with other family members and friends in the guest box.

"Serena nearly gave me a heart attack," he said. "Venus played as if she had someplace to go and she was in a major league hurry to get a great dinner."

Serena served 20 aces -- the most for a woman at Wimbledon since 2000 -- and had 45 winners and 28 unforced errors. Dementieva produced 27 winners, 26 errors and eight double-faults.

"That was the best match we ever played against each other," Dementieva said. "It was a real fight from the beginning until the end. I feel like I finally played some good tennis here. It was not easy to fight against her. She's a great champion. She was serving very well today. I wasn't sure if it's Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side.

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The Women of Wimbledon Are Women of the World

Grunting seems to be a hot topic in women’s tennis these days, but if there’s a word that describes women’s tennis better than ‘loud’, surely it’s ‘international’. It seems like players come from a wider range of countries than ever.

It’s no exception at this year’s Wimbledon, where the end of the first week means that only 16 of 128 women remain in the ladies’ singles draw. If you’ve been following women’s tennis, you probably guessed—correctly—that many of the remaining women are from the United States, Russia or Serbia—or have been asked about them. Their responses are often varied, ranging from the mildly amusing to the seriously informative and the absolutely zany.

Russia

The Russians are not coming in the world of women’s tennis, they’re already here. Half of the women in the top 10 are Russian.

Serena Williams, World No. 2, isn’t likely intimidated though. For one thing she has more Grand Slam titles than all of them combined in a sport where that number is often used to quantify tennis greatness. Serena isn’t lonely either since she’s joined in the top 10 by her older sister Venus, who’s World No. 3. One thing Serena is, by her own admission, is confused.

“Everyone is from Russia,” she said. “Sometimes I think I’m from Russia too… All these new ‘ova’s—I don’t really recognize anyone.”

While you can’t always count on Serena to be gracious in a post-match interview, you can generally count on her to be newsworthy. Naturally journalists prodded her for more.

“So are you saying you came to Compton when you were seven years old from Russia?” one journalist asked.

Serena happily obliged: “I think I am, and I think my name must be ‘Williamsova’.”

When told about Serena’s statements, No. 4-ranked Elena Dementieva chuckled before giving her take on why the Russian army has invaded the top of women’s tennis: “We have a very tough competition, and that’s what makes us work hard and improve our game. I think it’s always good to have lots of girls practicing all together trying to be the best one. It always helps with the motivation.”

USA

While it’s not surprising that four of the remaining 16 women in the singles draw are Russian, it’s shocking that three of them are American. People expect two—not more, not less. Few expect an American woman whose last name isn’t ‘Williams’ to make it to the second week of a Grand Slam.

Definitely not a 17-year-old who’s ranked No. 124 and who had to make her way through a qualifying tournament just to get to Wimbledon. Her name is Melanie Oudin, and she beat former World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in the third round.  The big win made it to the MSN home page. (The headline was suitably dramatic—‘Stunner: Former No. 1 upset by teen at Wimbledon’.)

Tennis watchers aren’t the only ones who focus on the Williams sisters. Just ask Oudin. Recounting memories of watching her first Wimbledon on TV, she said, “When I started playing tennis, I saw Venus and Serena Williams playing here, and I was like, ‘Mom, I really, really want to play there one day.’”

Venus, for her part, called Oudin’s victory “super good news” and described Oudin as “super nice” and “very well-adjusted.”

That, however, isn’t why the French apparently tried to claim Oudin as one of their own.

“There’s a group of French journalists behind the Americans,” said one journalist. “They’re claiming you today. You have more a French name than American name.”

Oudin cleared things up: “My last name is French. But I’m totally American, for sure.”

Serbia

The woman Oudin beat is from Serbia. Where women’s tennis is concerned, Serbia has probably gotten more attention than any other country the past few years. There are two reasons for this, and their names are Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

Just about every article that goes into their background mentions that Ivanovic grew up playing tennis in an abandoned swimming pool during the time of the NATO bombings in the 1990s. (Why should this article be the exception?)

At Wimbledon last year they were the top two seeds. Recently both women have seen a decline in their rankings (and their confidence). Ivanovic, who beat Australian Sam Stosur to get to get to the fourth round, is ranked No. 12, and Jankovic, who lost to Oudin in the third round, is ranked No. 6.

Still there’s no denying their talent. Many believe—or at least hope—their rankings will improve and they’ll win more Grand Slams.

Either way they’ve put Serbia on the tennis map. Jankovic was asked why Serbia’s seeing its athletes succeed in various sports.

“I think we’re quite talented,” Jankovic said, laughing. Ever the entertainer, she continued, “I don’t know how to explain it. But we have… the talent in us. We have that… hunger. We are big fighters. We want to be the best that we can. We don’t really accept… second places.”

China

What about China? Seeing as how it’s the most populous nation in the world, shouldn’t it get some mention? Fret not—No. 14-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat two Chinese players in a row, has China covered.

After a competitive third-round victory over China’s Na Li, Radwanska said, “She’s very good player, so I didn’t expect it’s gonna be easy.” Using a broader brush to sketch out the rest of the explanation, she added, “Against Chinese is always very difficult.”

At Wimbledon, it was apparently easier this year than last. This year none of the Chinese women made it past the third round. Last year Jie Zheng surprised many—and perhaps herself most of all—by making it all the way to the semifinals (beating top-ranked Ivanovic along the way).

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Women’s tennis Wimbledon history and records

Women’s singles started to be played at Wimbledon in 1884, seven years after the foundation of the tournament. Women’s doubles and mixed doubles were first played in 1913. Here are some facts and records:

Youngest singles winner was Charlotte (Lottie) Dodwho won Wimbledon in 1887 at the age of 15 years, 285 days. Later on she won four more Wimbledon titles, in 1888, 1891, 1892, 1893.

It’s unbelievable how times have changed. Take a look at Dod’s tennis outfit! I'm speechless.

And note this: besides playing tennis she was a member of the national field hockey team, British Amateur golf champion in 1904 and the archery silver medalist at the 1908 Olympics.

The youngest ever player at Wimbledon was Mita Klimaof Austria, who was 13 years old in the 1907 singles competition.

Martina Hingis was the youngest doubles winner, being only 15 years, 282 days old when she became a champion in 1996.

First African-American winner: In 1957 Althea Gibson became the first African-American to win a Wimbledon singles championship, and defended her title a year later. She is sometimes referred to as "the Jackie Robinson of tennis" for breaking the "color barrier".

Chris Evert Lloyd was the last married woman to win singles, that happened in 1981. She was also a player with most runner-up positions at Wimbledon, 7.

The shortest person to compete in Wimbledon was Miss C.G. Hoahing who was just 4 feet 9 inches / 1.45 meters.

And here’s the absolute queen MARTINA NAVRATILOVA holds five records! She has most singles titles, as much as 9 (1978, 1979, 1982–1987, 1990)! She has most consecutive singles titles, 6! Navratilova also holds the record for the largest number of matches played she played 326 matches at Wimbledon. Along with Billie Jean King, Martina was also the winner of most Wimbledon titles, having 20 of them. In addition, she was the oldest champion winning the mixed doubles title in 2003 at the age of 46 years, 8 months.

Most doubles and mixed doubles titles belong to Elizabeth Ryan who won 12 doubles titles, and 7 mixed doubles. She also won 5 consecutive doubles titles, which is the record that she shares with Suzanne Lenglen.

Venus Williams and Serena Williams were the lowest seeded winners of Wimbledon..

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Women get equality at last at Wimbledon

The All England Club will give men and women equal prize-money at this year's Wimbledon Championships. It will be the first time in the tournament's history that there has been equal pay through all rounds for men and women, ending 123 years of inequality.

"Tennis is one of the few sports in which women and men compete in the same event at the same time," said, Tim Phillips, the All England Club chairman. "We believe our decision to offer equal prize-money provides a boost for the game as a whole and recognizes the enormous contribution that women players make to the game and to Wimbledon.

"In short, good for tennis, good for women players and good for Wimbledon."

The decision has been welcomed by women players, none more so than Venus Williams, the three-time Wimbledon champion, who in an opinion piece for The Times during last year’s Championships said that the reasons against paying the same are no longer relevant.

"The greatest tennis tournament in the world has reached an even greater height today,” said Williams. "I applaud today's decision by Wimbledon, which recognizes the value of women's tennis.

"The 2007 Championships will have even greater meaning and significance to me and my fellow players."

Maria Sharapova, another former Wimbledon champion, added: "Wimbledon has always been a leader in so many ways in the world of tennis. This decision will only strengthen the bond between women players and one of the world's great sporting events."

"Wimbledon is one of the most respected events in all sports and now with women and men paid on an equal scale, it demonstrates to the rest of the world that this is the right thing to do for the sport, the tournament and the world."

Larry Scott, the Sony-Ericsson WTA Tour chief executive, a supporter of the move, added: "This is an historic and defining moment for women in the sport of tennis, and a significant step forward for the equality of women in our society.

"We commend the leadership of Wimbledon for its decisive action in recognising the progress that women's tennis has made."

When women started competing at Wimbledon in 1884, the champion received a silver flower basket to the value of 20 guineas, while the men’s winner took home a gold prize worth 10 guineas more. In 1968, the first year of Open tennis, the men’s champion received £2,000; the women’s £750. There was not the same dissent in those days that has been raised in recent years as the All England Club closed the gap but refused to equate the respective prize-moneys. Last year, the difference was £30,000, with the men’s winner, Roger Federer, earning £655,000.

Phillips stated that the cost to the All England Club of bringing equality will be £600,000 and that the decision taken on Wednesday night was unanimous.

"We believe it will help Wimbledon's reputation. Every year we analyse in considerable detail the relevant factors, both social issues and market data, and then the committee makes a judgment which they believe is right for Wimbledon.

"We believed that since we wanted to make a further increase on prize money that it was so close (between the men and women amounts) that the time was right to equalise fully.

Last year Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, joined the Lawn Tennis Association, the governing body of British tennis, and the Women's Tennis Association, in calling for an end to the inequality.

However, Phillips said that he did not believe Wimbledon's previous position was morally indefensible.

"We think now is absolutely the right time to make this move. We have a reputation both for the championships and for the All England Club and we have to look after that.

"We always want the top players to enjoy coming here. It's been a problem in that we don't want them to feel bad about things. We looked at all the options and decided this was right for Wimbledon.

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Tennis: Chinese Women Celebrate Wimbledon Breakthrough

Li Na and Zheng Jie celebrated their Wimbledon breakthrough in London on Wednesday when they became the first Chinese players to reach the third round at the All England Club.

Peng Shuai joined them in the third round yesterday after dishing out an impressive 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) straight sets win over the Israeli 20th seed Shahar Peer.

Li, seeded 27, defeated Meilen Tu of the US 6-2, 6-4, while Zheng Jie won a tough three-setter against the Czech Republic's Eva Birnerova 7-6 (8/6), 5-7, 6-3.

Both players said they are pleased with their second round victories.

"I played very good tennis today and it is a satisfying result for me," Li said.

"It was a very tough match for me," Zheng said. "She has powerful serves and a good backhand. But I am so happy because this is my best performance so far in Wimbledon."

Zheng joined the tournament in 2004 but was ousted in the first round.

All Chinese players skipped the tournament last year due to the National Games.

Playing at Wimbledon for the first time, Li, China's No.1, now faces former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian fifth seed, for a place in the last 16.

Zheng has an equally tough task, facing Belgian second seed Kim Clijsters

Later yesterday, Sun Tiantian was unable to advance as she lost to Elena Likhovtseva of Russia 6-3, 6-3 in the second round.

China has six women in the top 100 and all of them were in the main draw here. By contrast, China's top tennis star, Wang Yu, is ranked at a humble 353.

"I think they're too skinny," Peng pointed out. "They need to get stronger. May be the men need to eat more."

The 20-year-old, who played the first round on her debut here in 2004, splits her time between Florida and China and is convinced the Olympic doubles gold medal success of Sun and Li Ting in Athens in 2004 will spur even more Chinese women to take up the game.

As it is, the ladies have exceeded their French Open performance.

Four Chinese girls made it through to the second round at Roland Garros earlier this month with Li surviving until the round of 32.

This year, there were six Chinese women in the main draw and their emergence has been noted by former world No.1 Martina Hingis.

"When I kind of moved away, it was still a lot of Russians. But now it seems like it's moving more to the East," Hingis commented.

Two of the Chinese contingent were beaten on Tuesday by French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, the world third seed, who beat Yuan Meng 6-0, 6-1, and Russian 30th seed Anna Chakvetadze who saw off Yan Zi 6-3, 6-2.

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